DocBook Quick Reference

This reference provides a high-level view of how the various DocBook elements fit together. It is not normative or definitive, but serves to break the large number of tags into more digestable catagories.

This edition covers DocBook 4, but omits all Graphic-related elements in anticipation of DocBook 5.

Contents

• Main Heirarchy
• Sections
• ToC
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Article
• Reference
• Index
• Synopsis
• MsgSet
• Callout
• Table
• Address
• Lists
• Media
• ElementInfo
• Titles
• Parameter Entities

Heirarchy

• set
  1. titles?
  2. setinfo?
  3. toc?
  4. book+
     1. titles?
     2. bookinfo?
     3. any combination of:
        • dedication (titles?, %legalnotice.mix;)
        • toc
        • lot (beginpage?, titles?, lotentry*)
        • glossary
        • bibliography
        • preface (chapter content, see below)
        • chapter
          1. beginpage?
          2. chapterinfo? (prefaceinfo? for preface, appendexinfo? for appendix)
          3. titles
          4. %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*
          5. tocchap?
          6. %bookcomponent.content; (blocks, usually sections)
          7. %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*
        • reference
        • part
          1. beginpage?
          2. partinfo?
          3. titles
          4. partintro? (titles?, %bookcomponent.content;)
          5. any combination of (at least one):
             • appendix (chapter content, see above)
             • chapter (see above)
             • toc
             • lot (see above)
             • index
             • glossary
             • bibliography
             • article
             • preface (chapter content, see above)
             • refentry
             • reference
        • article
        • appendix (chapter content, see above)
        • index
        • setindex
        • colophon (titles, %textobject.mix;)
  5. setindex?

Sections

• simplesect (titles, %divcomponent.mix;)
• section
  1. sectioninfo?
  2. titles
  3. %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*
  4. one of:
     • ((%divcomponent.mix;), (refentry*|section*))
     • refentry+
     • section+
  5. %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*
• sect1
  1. sect1info?
  2. titles
  3. %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*
  4. one of:
     • ((%divcomponent.mix;), (refentry*|sect2*|simplesect*))
     • refentry+
     • sect2+
     • simplesect+
  5. %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*
  .
  :
• sect5
  1. sect5info?
  2. titles
  3. %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*
  4. one of:
     • ((%divcomponent.mix;), (refentry*|simplesect*))
     • refentry+
     • simplesect+
  5. %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*

ToC

1. beginpage?
2. titles?
3. tocfront* (%para.char.mix;)+
4. one of:
   • tocpart*
     1. tocentry+ (%para.char.mix;)+
     2. tocchap* (see below)
   • tocchap*
     1. tocentry+
     2. toclevel1*
        1. tocentry+
        2. toclevel2*
           1. tocentry+
           2. toclevel3*
              1. tocentry+
              2. toclevel4*
                 1. tocentry+
                 2. toclevel5*
                    • tocentry+
5. tocback* (%para.char.mix;)+

Glossary

• glossary
  1. glossaryinfo
  2. titles?
  3. (%component.mix;)*
  4. one of:
     • glossdiv+
       1. titles
       2. (%component.mix;)*
       3. glossentry+ (see below)
     • glossentry+
       1. glossterm (%para.char.mix;)+
       2. acronym?
       3. abbrev?
       4. indexterm*
       5. revhistory
       6. one of:
          • glosssee (%para.char.mix;)+
          • glossdef+
            1. (%glossdef.mix;)+
            2. glossseealso*: (%para.char.mix;)+
  5. bibliography?

Bibliography

• bibliography
  1. bibliographyinfo
  2. titles?
  3. (%component.mix;)*
  4. any combination of (at least one):
     • bibliodiv+
       1. titles?
       2. (%component.mix;)*
       3. any combination of (at least one):
          • biblioentry (see below)
          • bibliomixed (see below)
     • biblioentry, any combination of (at least one):
       • articleinfo
       • (%bibliocomponent.mix;)*
     • bibliomixed, any combination of (at least one):
       • #PCDATA
       • (%bibliocomponent.mix;)*
       • bibliomset
         • #PCDATA
         • (%bibliocomponent.mix;)*
         • bibliomset …

Article

• article
  1. titles?
  2. articleinfo?
  3. tocchap?
  4. lot* (beginpage?, titles?, lotentry*)
  5. %bookcomponent.content;
  6. any combination of:
     • %nav.class; (toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*
     • appendix
     • ackno (%docinfo.char.mix;)*

Reference

• reference
  1. beginpage?
  2. referenceinfo?
  3. titles
  4. partintro? (titles?, %bookcomponent.content;)
  5. refentry+
     1. beginpage?
     2. indexterm*
     3. refentryinfo?
     4. refmeta?
        1. indexterm*
        2. refentrytitle (%para.char.mix;)+
        3. manvolnum? (%word.char.mix;)+
        4. refmiscinfo* (%docinfo.char.mix;)+
        5. indexterm*
     5. (remark|link|olink|ulink)*
     6. refnamediv
        1. refdescriptor?
        2. refname+
        3. refpurpose
        4. refclass*
        5. (remark|link|olink|ulink)*
     7. refsynopsisdiv?
        1. refsynopsisdivinfo?
        2. titles
        3. one of:
           • ((%refcomponent.mix;)+, refsect2*)
           • refsect2+
             1. refsect2info?
             2. titles
             3. one of:
                • ((%refcomponent.mix;)+, refsect3*)
                • refsect3+
                  1. refsect3info?
                  2. titles
                  3. (%refcomponent.mix;)+
     8. refsect1+
        1. refsect1info?
        2. titles
        3. one of:
           • ((%refcomponent.mix;)+, refsect2*)
           • refsect2+
             1. refsect2info?
             2. titles
             3. one of:
                • ((%refcomponent.mix;)+, refsect3*)
                • refsect3+
                  1. refsect3info?
                  2. titles
                  3. (%refcomponent.mix;)+

Index or SetIndex

• index or setindex
  1. indexinfo? (or setindexinfo?)
  2. titles?
  3. (%component.mix;)*
  4. one of:
     • indexdiv*
       1. titles?
       2. (%component.mix;)*
       3. one of:
          • indexentry+ (see below)
          • segmentedlist
     • indexentry*
       1. primaryie
       2. any combination of:
          • seeie (%ndxterm.char.mix;)+
          • seealsoie (%ndxterm.char.mix;)+
       3. any number of:
          1. secondaryie
          2. any combination of:
             • seeie (%ndxterm.char.mix;)+
             • seealsoie (%ndxterm.char.mix;)+
             • tertiaryie (%ndxterm.char.mix;)+

Synopsis

• synopsis
  • (%para.char.mix;)+, including:
    • synopsis
    • cmdsynopsis
      1. any combination of (at least one):
         • command
         • arg, any combination of:
           • #PCDATA
           • arg
           • group
           • option
           • synopfragmentref
           • replaceable
           • sbr
         • group (arg content, see above)
         • sbr
      2. synopfragment+, any combination of (at least one):
         • arg (see above)
         • group (see above)
    • funcsynopsis, any combination of (at least one):
      • funcsynopsisinfo
      • funcprototype
        1. funcdef, any combination of:
           • #PCDATA
           • replaceable
           • function
        2. one of:
           • void
           • varargs
           • paramdef+, any combination of:
             • #PCDATA
             • replaceable
             • parameter
             • funcparams
    • classsynopsis
      1. any combination of (at least one):
         • ooclass
           1. modifier*
           2. classname
         • oointerface
           1. modifier*
           2. interfacename
         • ooexception
           1. modifier*
           2. exceptionname
      2. any combination of:
         • classsynopsisinfo
         • fieldsynopsis (see below)
         • contructorsynopsis
         • destructorsynopsis
         • methodsynopsis
    • fieldsynopsis
      1. modifer*
      2. type?
      3. varname
      4. initializer?
    • constructorsynopsis
      1. modifier*
      2. methodname?
      3. one of:
         • methodparam+
           1. modifier*
           2. type?
           3. one of:
              • (parameter,initializer?)
              • funcparams
           4. modifier*
         • void
      4. exceptionname*
    • destructorsynopsis
      1. modifier*
      2. methodname?
      3. (methodparam+|void) (see above)
      4. exceptionname*
    • methodsynopsis
      1. modifier*
      2. (type|void)?
      3. methodname?
      4. (methodparam+|void) (see above)
      5. exceptionname*
      6. modifier*

MsgSet

• msgset
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. one of:
     • msgentry+
       1. msg+
          1. title?
          2. msgmain
             1. title?
             2. msgtext
          3. any combination of:
             • msgsub
               1. title?
               2. msgtext
             • msgrel
               1. title?
               2. msgtext
       2. msginfo?, any combination of:
          • msglevel
          • msgorig
          • msgaud
       3. msgexplan*
          1. title?
          2. (%component.mix;)+
     • simplemsgentry+
       1. msgtext
       2. msgexplan+ (see above)

Callout

• literallayout, programlisting, screen, or synopsis include:
  • co
• areaspec, any combination of (at least one):
  • area
  • areaset
    • area+
• calloutlist
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. callout+
• imageobjectco
  1. areaspec (see above)
  2. imageobject
  3. calloutlist (see above)
• mediaobjectco
  1. objectinfo?
  2. imageobjectco (see above)
  3. any combination of:
     • imageobjectco (see above)
     • textobject
• programlistingco
  1. areaspec (see above)
  2. programlisting
  3. calloutlist (see above)
• screenco
  1. areaspec (see above)
  2. screen
  3. calloutlist (see above)

Table

• table
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. indexterm*
  3. one of:
     • mediaobject+
     • tgroup+
       1. colspec*
       2. spanspec*
       3. thead?
          1. colspec*
          2. row+, any combination of (at least one):
             • entry
             • entrytbl (table content, but no nested entrytbl)
       4. tfoot? (thead content, see above)
       5. tbody+
          • row+ (see above)

Address

• address, any combination of:
  • honorific
  • firstname
  • surname
  • lineage
  • othername
  • affilitation
    1. shortaffil?
    2. jobtitle*
    3. orgname?
    4. orgdiv?
    5. address*
  • authorblurb
  • contrib
  • street
  • pob
  • postcode
  • city
  • state
  • country
  • phone
  • fax
  • email
  • otheraddr

Lists

• simplelist
  • member+
• itemizedlist
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. listitem+
• orderedlist
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. listitem+
• variablelist
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. varlistitem+
     1. term+
     2. listitem
• segmentedlist
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. segtitle
  3. segtitle+
  4. seglistitem+
     1. seg
     2. seg+
• glosslist
  • glossentry+
• qandaset
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. (%qandaset.mix;)*
  3. one of:
     • qandadiv+
       1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
       2. (%qandaset.mix;)*
       3. one of:
          • qandadiv+
          • qandaentry+ (see below)
     • qandaentry+
       1. revhistory?
       2. question
       3. answer*

Media

• mediaobject
  1. objectinfo?
  2. one of:
     • videoobject (see below)
     • audioobject (see below)
     • imageobject (see below)
  3. any combination of:
     • videoobject
       1. objectinfo?
       2. videodata
     • audioobject
       1. objectinfo?
       2. audiodata
     • imageobject
       1. objectinfo?
       2. imagedata
     • textobject
       1. objectinfo?
       2. (phrase|%textobject.mix;)+
  4. caption
• inlinemediaobject
  1. objectinfo?
  2. one of:
     • videoobject (see above)
     • audioobject (see above)
     • imageobject (see above)
  3. any combination of:
     • videoobject (see above)
     • audioobject (see above)
     • imageobject (see above)
• figure
• equation
  1. (title,titleabbrev?)?
  2. one of:
     • informalequation (see below)
     • (informalequation content, see below)
• informalequation
  1. alt?
  2. mediaobject+
• inlineequation
  1. alt?
  2. inlinemediaobject+

ElementInfo

Applies to: appendixinfo, articleinfo, bookinfo, objectinfo, prefaceinfo, refentryinfo, refsect1info, refsect2info, refsect3info, refsynopsisdivinfo, sect1info, sect2info, sect3info, sect4info, sect5info, sectioninfo, setinfo, and sidebarinfo.

• any combination of (at least one):
  • mediaobject
  • legalnotice
    1. title?
    2. any combination of (at least one): %legalnotice.mix;
  • modespec
  • subjectset
    • subject+
      • subjectterm+
  • keywordset
    • keyword+
  • itermset
    • indexterm+
      1. primary
      2. (secondary,tertiary?)?
      3. (see|seealso+)?
  • %bibliocomponent.mix;, including:
    • affiliation
      1. shortaffil? (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      2. jobtitle* (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      3. orgname? (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      4. orgdiv* (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      5. address
    • author, editor, or othercredit: any combination of (at least one):
      • honorific (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      • firstname (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      • surname (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      • lineage (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      • othername (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      • affiliation (see above)
      • authorblurb (see below)
      • contrib (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
    • authorblurb
      1. title?
      2. any combination of (at least one):
         • formalpara
         • para
         • simpara
    • collab
      1. collabname
      2. affiliation* (see above)
    • confgroup: any combination of:
      • confdates (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      • conftitle (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      • confnum (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      • address
      • confsponsor (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
    • copyright
      1. year+ (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
      2. holder* (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
    • printhistory, any combination of (at least one):
      • formalpara
      • para
      • simpara
    • publisher
      1. publishername
      2. address
    • revhistory
      • revision+
        1. revnumber (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
        2. date (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
        3. authorinitials* (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
        4. optionally, one of:
           • revremark (%docinfo.char.mix;)*
           • revdescription

Titles

1. title
2. subtitle?
3. titleabbrev?

Parameter Entities

• %bibliocomponent.mix;
• %bookcomponent.content;
• %component.mix;
• %docinfo.char.mix;
• %glossdef.mix;
• %qandaset.mix;
• %legalnotice.mix;
• %ndxterm.char.mix;
• %textobject.mix;
• %word.char.mix;

%bibliocomponent.mix;

abbrev|abstract|address|artpagenums|author
|authorgroup|authorinitials|bibliomisc|biblioset
|collab|confgroup|contractnum|contractsponsor
|copyright|corpauthor|corpname|date|edition
|editor|invpartnumber|isbn|issn|issuenum|orgname
|othercredit|pagenums|printhistory|productname
|productnumber|pubdate|publisher|publishername
|pubsnumber|releaseinfo|revhistory|seriesvolnums
|subtitle|title|titleabbrev|volumenum|citetitle
|honorific|firstname|surname|lineage|othername|affiliation
|authorblurb|contrib 
|indexterm

%bookcomponent.content;

• ((%divcomponent.mix;)+, (sect1*|refentry*|simplesect*|section*))
• (sect1+|refentry+|simplesect+|section+)

%component.mix; and %divcomponent.mix;

calloutlist|glosslist|itemizedlist|orderedlist|segmentedlist|
simplelist|variablelist|caution|important|note|tip|warning|
literallayout|programlisting|programlistingco|screen|screenco|
screenshot|synopsis|cmdsynopsis|funcsynopsis|classsynopsis|
fieldsynopsis|constructorsynopsis|destructorsynopsis|
methodsynopsis|formalpara|para|simpara|address|blockquote|
mediaobject|mediaobjectco|informalequation|
informalexample|informalfigure|informaltable|equation|example|
figure|table|msgset|procedure|sidebar|qandaset|productionset|
constraintdef|anchor|bridgehead|remark|highlights|abstract|
authorblurb|epigraph|indexterm|beginpage

%docinfo.char.mix;

#PCDATA|link|olink|ulink|emphasis|trademark|replaceable|remark|
subscript|superscript|inlinemediaobject|indexterm

%glossdef.mix;

calloutlist|glosslist|itemizedlist|orderedlist|segmentedlist
|simplelist|variablelist|literallayout|programlisting|programlistingco
|screen|screenco|screenshot|synopsis|cmdsynopsis|funcsynopsis 
|formalpara|para|simpara|address|blockquote
|mediaobject|mediaobjectco|informalequation|informalexample
|informalfigure|informaltable|equation|example|figure|table 
|comment|indexterm

%qandaset;

calloutlist|glosslist|itemizedlist|orderedlist|segmentedlist|
simplelist|variablelist|caution|important|note|tip|warning|
literallayout|programlisting|programlistingco|screen|screenco|
screenshot|synopsis|cmdsynopsis|funcsynopsis|classsynopsis|
fieldsynopsis|constructorsynopsis|destructorsynopsis|
methodsynopsis|formalpara|para|simpara|address|blockquote|
mediaobject|mediaobjectco|informalequation|
informalexample|informalfigure|informaltable|equation|example|
figure|table|procedure|anchor|bridgehead|remark|highlights|
indexterm

%indexdivcomponent.mix;

itemizedlist|orderedlist|variablelist|simplelist|literallayout|
programlisting|programlistingco|screen|screenco|screenshot|
synopsis|cmdsynopsis|funcsynopsis|classsynopsis|fieldsynopsis|
constructorsynopsis|destructorsynopsis|methodsynopsis|
formalpara|para|simpara|address|blockquote
mediaobject|mediaobjectco|informalequation|informalexample|
informalfigure|informaltable|anchor|remark|link|olink|ulink|
beginpage

%legalnotice.mix;

calloutlist|glosslist|itemizedlist|orderedlist|segmentedlist|
simplelist|variablelist|caution|important|note|tip|warning|
literallayout|programlisting|programlistingco|screen|screenco|
screenshot|formalpara|para|simpara|blockquote|indexterm|
beginpage

%ndxterm.char.mix;

#PCDATA|footnoteref|xref|abbrev|acronym|citation|citerefentry|
citetitle|emphasis|firstterm|foreignphrase|glossterm|footnote|
phrase|quote|trademark|wordasword|link|olink|ulink|action|
application|classname|methodname|interfacename|exceptionname|
ooclass|oointerface|ooexception|command|computeroutput|database|
email|envar|errorcode|errorname|errortype|filename|function|
guibutton|guiicon|guilabel|guimenu|guimenuitem|guisubmenu|
hardware|interface|keycap|keycode|keycombo|keysym|literal|
constant|markup|medialabel|menuchoice|mousebutton|option|
optional|parameter|prompt|property|replaceable|returnvalue|
sgmltag|structfield|structname|symbol|systemitem|token|type|
userinput|varname|nonterminal|anchor|author|authorinitials|
corpauthor|modespec|othercredit|productname|productnumber|
revhistory|remark|subscript|superscript|
inlinemediaobject

%para.char.mix;

#PCDATA|footnoteref|xref|abbrev|acronym|citation|citerefentry|
citetitle|emphasis|firstterm|foreignphrase|glossterm|footnote|
phrase|quote|trademark|wordasword|link|olink|ulink|action|
application|classname|methodname|interfacename|exceptionname|
ooclass|oointerface|ooexception|command|computeroutput|database|
email|envar|errorcode|errorname|errortype|filename|function|
guibutton|guiicon|guilabel|guimenu|guimenuitem|guisubmenu|
hardware|interface|keycap|keycode|keycombo|keysym|literal|
constant|markup|medialabel|menuchoice|mousebutton|option|
optional|parameter|prompt|property|replaceable|returnvalue|
sgmltag|structfield|structname|symbol|systemitem|token|type|
userinput|varname|nonterminal|anchor|author|authorinitials|
corpauthor|modespec|othercredit|productname|productnumber|
revhistory|remark|subscript|superscript|
inlinemediaobject|inlineequation|synopsis|cmdsynopsis|
funcsynopsis|classsynopsis|fieldsynopsis|constructorsynopsis|
destructorsynopsis|methodsynopsis|indexterm|beginpage

%refcomponent.mix;

calloutlist|glosslist|itemizedlist|orderedlist|segmentedlist|
simplelist|variablelist|caution|important|note|tip|warning|
literallayout|programlisting|programlistingco|screen|screenco|
screenshot|synopsis|cmdsynopsis|funcsynopsis|classsynopsis|
fieldsynopsis|constructorsynopsis|destructorsynopsis|
methodsynopsis|formalpara|para|simpara|address|blockquote|
mediaobject|mediaobjectco|informalequation|
informalexample|informalfigure|informaltable|equation|example|
figure|table|msgset|procedure|sidebar|qandaset|productionset|
constraintdef|anchor|bridgehead|remark|highlights|abstract|
authorblurb|epigraph|indexterm|beginpage

%textobject.mix;

calloutlist|glosslist|itemizedlist|orderedlist|segmentedlist|
simplelist|variablelist|caution|important|note|tip|warning|
literallayout|programlisting|programlistingco|screen|screenco|
screenshot|formalpara|para|simpara|blockquote

%word.char.mix;

#PCDATA|acronym|emphasis|trademark|link|olink|ulink|anchor|
remark|subscript|superscript|inlinemediaobject|
indexterm|beginpage